Dinesh D'Souza's election fraud film and book '2000 Mules' removed after defamation lawsuit.

• Salem Media Group removed the influential election denial conspiracy film "2000 Mules" and a related book from its platforms and will stop distributing them.
• Dinesh D'Souza, a conservative gadfly, produced "2000 Mules," which claims President Joe Biden won the election against Donald Trump through widespread ballot fraud.
• Mark Andrews, a Georgia man falsely accused of ballot stuffing in a film, sued Salem Media, D'Souza, and True the Vote for defamation.

According to an announcement on Friday, the film and book "2000 Mules" by conservative gadfly Dinesh D'Souza, which promotes false conspiracies about voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, has been removed from distribution by its executive producer and publisher.

The company announced that it had pulled D'Souza's film and book, and also apologized to Mark Andrews, a Georgia man falsely accused in "2000 Mules" of ballot stuffing.

In late 2022, Andrews filed a federal defamation lawsuit against D'Souza and True The Vote, who were involved in the "2000 Mules' project.

CNBC did not receive an immediate response from D'Souza and True The Vote regarding their comments on Salem Media's decision to remove "2000 Mules."

released the film in 2022.

At the time of release, the company boasted that "2000 Mules" was the most successful political documentary in a decade, with $10 million in earnings in its initial weeks.

The film was soon included in the collection of media created by far-right individuals to challenge the validity of the 2020 presidential election, which saw President Joe Biden emerge victorious.

At his Florida club Mar-a-Lago, former President Donald Trump, who lost to Biden, screened the film "2000 Mules."

Since the publication of the movie and book by Salem Media's subsidiary Regnery Publishing, the claims made in them have been systematically debunked by journalists and law-enforcement officials.

In a Georgia court, attorneys for True the Vote admitted they could not provide any evidence to support their claims of ballot stuffing in the 2020 presidential election, which Biden won.

"2000 Mules" depicts Andrews putting five ballots into a box, with D'Souza narrating: "This is illegal. These are fake votes."

The lawsuit filed by Andrews is moving forward in court. The lawsuit aims to obtain unspecified damages, compensation for the use of his name and image, and a court order compelling D'Souza, Salem Media, True the Vote, and others to remove their statements regarding Andrews.

Salem Media stated on Friday that it had no intention of causing harm to Mr. Andrews by publishing the 2000 Mules film and book.

"The statement said that Mr. Andrews and his family were hurt by the inclusion of his image in the movie, book, and promotional materials, and we apologize for any harm caused."

"Salem has removed the film from its platforms and will not distribute it or the book in the future."

We relied on representations made to us by Dinesh D'Souza and True the Vote, Inc. that the individuals depicted in the videos provided to us by TTV, including Mr. Andrews, illegally deposited ballots, according to Salem Media.

In late 2023, Regnery Publishing, the imprint behind the "2000 Mules" book, was sold by Salem Media.

Skyhorse Publishing, an independent publisher known for releasing works by controversial authors such as Alex Jones and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., purchased the conservative publisher.

Last year, $787 million was paid to Dominion Voting Systems to settle a defamation lawsuit unrelated to Fox News' claims about the 2020 election.